Superheroes, by The Script

Superheroes is a song sung by The Script, included in their last album, No Sound Without Silence (2014).

The reason why I have chosen this song is because of its beautiful and thought-provoking lyrics. The Script, with this song, sings to the people who do not have an easy life, who have to sacrifice themselves every day to have something to eat, to be able to maintain their family, who is vulnerable to be abused. They sing to the real superheroes, but, at the end, to all of us, because not only rich or important people are superheroes, we are all superheroes; we are all stronger than we think.

Apart from the meaningful lyrics, Superheroes has a gripping rhythm, a refrain which makes you move the head and dance, which makes you sing.

Concerning the video, I consider it impressive and powerful. It shows us how a dark skinned man has to leave, early in the morning, his daughter alone to go working in a difficult place. He wears a suit to make his daughter think he has a great job, but then, he has to change clothes to work with rubbish. After a hard day of work, he comes back with his daughter with a present, an object that is rubbish for some people but is a treasure for them. It is an exceptionally moving video that teaches us the real important things in life: to be happy with the things and people we have, to value important moments.

I really like this song due to the fact that it is not only a song with a riveting rhythm, it has moving and meaningful lyrics and the video is realistic and rousing. 

Traveller or tourist?

After reading the opinions of some travelbloggers, I find that there are two points of view according to the topic: “travellers and tourists. What are the differences?” 

Firstly, some people think that there are important differences between travellers and tourists. Travellers usually go to unusual places, meet people, and explore the culture and traditions.  The tourists, oppositely, prefer traveling to relax; they visit touristic places, take photos, buy souvenirs and go home. 

On the other hand, there are people who do not find any difference between the two concepts, only a semantic variance. They think that travellers underline the differences only to feel superior, but the reality is that the traveller only has a more romantic meaning, but, in fact, there is no difference between them. 

Some people would say that travellers accept new cultures and different ways of living while tourists are more interested in visiting popular places. Nevertheless, do not the tourists accept new cultures or the travellers like visiting monuments? To my mind, we are not talking about travellers or tourists, we are all a mixture of the two of them, and we are “travelists”, like Cate Dowman, from Caffeinated Traveller, says.

A Monster Calls

A Monster Calls is not the last book I have read, but it is the last book I really have loved. It has been written by Patrick Ness (from an original idea by Siobhan Dowd) and illustrated by Jim Kay.

A Monster Calls is the story of a thirteen years old boy called Conor. His mother is sick and he has a difficult life: he has to do everything at home due to the fact that his mother cannot move a lot and his father left them, he does not have any friends and he suffers bullying at school. One night, he receives the visit of a monster who promises to tell him three stories, but he also says to Conor that, after his stories, he has to tell his own story, the real story. 

A Monster Calls is a dark book; it is sad, painful, heartbreaking, but it is encouraging too. Although the whole story has the essence of a children tale, the storyline is serious and dramatic. It shows us the most difficult and terrible side of the cancer or any related disease, it reveals the situation of the people who are by the sick person, their thoughts, their fears and, also, their necessity of seeing that everything has finished to continue with their lives, to try to be normal people again. 

I have loved this book and the illustrations it has. I strongly recommend it because it makes the reader feels, and it is the kind of book that he is not going to forget.

The place where I was born

Although I am not living there now, the place where I was born is Granada, a city located in Eastern Andalusia. 

Granada is one of the most charming and beautiful cities in Spain. Its wonderful location, near the Sierra Nevada Mountains and a few miles from the coastline, makes this city a perfect place to live. But Granada is not only a city in an interesting point in the map. What I like most about this city is all the places you can visit, the beautiful landscape, the ancient and narrow streets, the historic buildings. There are a lot of things to do in Granada; it has everything a person could wish: a lot of shops, some museums, theatres, cinemas, parks and monuments. 

Granada is known by everyone because of the Alhambra, a magnificent place built by the Muslim emirs a long time ago. This is a beautiful place to visit, but not the only in the city: the Cathedral and other different churches like Saint John of God,  the Albayzin and the narrow streets of the beautiful Acera del Darro, the city centre with its diverse shops, etc.

The food is another strong point of the area. In Granada, we eat delicious migas, refreshing gazpacho and the best fish from the coastline. To the most intrepid people, there is also a typical omelet called Sacromonte. 

In conclusion, Granada is a lovely place to live, where people who like to do activities are not going to be bored and people who enjoy a promenade are going to be delighted by the beautiful places in the city. Granada is likely to be loved because it is a city adapted to every kind of person. 

"The Disrobing of Christ", El Greco

The Disrobing of Christ, El Greco

The reason why I have chosen this painting is because of the importance of his painter in Spain nowadays. We are lucky due to the fact that during this year, 2014, we can visit in the city of Toledo a great exposition placed in different places of the city. A lot of paintings from all around the world have been brought to this city and people can see the work of El Greco and a lot of pictures that maybe they could never see in other circumstances.

Despite his nickname, that means “The Greek”, El Greco is a Spanish painter, sculptor and architect. He was born in Creta in 1541, but in 1577 he moved to Toledo, where he lived until his death, in 1614. His first works were influenced by his Italian teachers, but soon after, he found a personal style characterised by the creation of elongated, extremely thin, phantasmagorical and very expressive figures. He used the colours to create a contrast in his works.

The Disrobing of Christ, known to all as El Expolio, is one of the most famous paintings created by this artist. It is located in the Sacristy of the Cathedral of Toledo. El Greco painted it between the years 1577 and 1579; it was one of his first paintings in Spain. The work shows an episode of the Passion of the Christ. Jesus is in the centre of the picture, he is surrounded by a group of people who accompany him. In the left corner of the lower side of the picture, El Greco shows us the three Marys, the Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene and Mary of Clopas, the three of them with a distraught look in their faces.

The artist wants to emphasise the presence of Christ; to do it, he creates a circled composition, where Christ is in the centre and the other people surround Him. Moreover, the painter uses colours that make a contrast in the work: everything is dark, all the figures have been painted in shady colours. Nevertheless, Christ, in the centre of the painting, has a red tunic that highlights His importance. His illuminated face and red clothes contrast with the dark figures who surround Him.